It’s March, and officially Spring, so with memories of Christmas and the ensuing January sales eclipsed by the first daffodils, have you recently had to deal with the shock arrival of bills and statements? How was it for you? Surprised? Concerned? But will we treat escape from newly-acquired debt with any greater resolve than the fitness, weight loss and bad- habit – kicking commitments we may have made in the New Year euphoria, and maybe broken already? OK, so it’s easy to beat yourself up for your personal extravagance, but like gym membership, self-help groups and sharing your problems with partners, family and friends, taking that first step and admitting your problem, is the most difficult. Coming out of denial and facing the reality of the task ahead often means you are well on your way to your chosen goal. With money worries increasingly cited as one of the most frequent cause of stress, depression and relationship breakdown, controlling your finances can suddenly become an important part of your life-style, complementing the five-a-day, low salt, high fibre, low fat, regular exercising regime that we’re all regularly recommended to adopt. You could almost say that that without financial fitness, in the form of debt freedom, you may fail to maximise the total health benefits from the positive steps you take with diet and exercise. Now there’s a thought worth considering With debt, the basic ground rules don’t change. Firstly, if possible, avoid it. If you choose not to, then limit your borrowing to what you can afford to repay. And finally, if concerned, worried or overwhelmed by debt to the degree that you no longer feel in control, then get help – fast. Denying you have a problem or just ignoring debt-related mail frequently makes recovery more difficult. So sooner rather than latter should be the guiding principle. Getting debt help is relatively easy. Getting the right help and avoiding paying over the odds for your predicament could be slightly more demanding – on your time, patience and bank balance. So in selecting your debt solutions provider, you should look for impartiality, experience, transparency, independence and a free debt advice service: features for which Payplan ticks all the boxes. With over 15 years experience of providing debt advice and solutions, Payplan currently help over 60,000 people every year. We provide fast, impartial debt advice, regardless of the amount you owe, providing clients with a service that is free, confidential and just free a phone call away. Many of our enquirers resolve their difficulties during their first phone call to us, whilst others may need Payplans advice and support for the duration of a fixed or flexible debt management plan that Payplan will administer on their behalf, smoothing the pathway to financial freedom. Payplan debt management clients are supported by their own case officer and have 24 hour web access to Justabank – our online payment monitoring system, reflecting up-to-the-minute debt reduction and progress towards their goal – financial freedom. So, if you feel financial fitness could make a real contribution to improving your lifestyle and restore your feeling of well-being or if debt is becoming a burden, then maybe Payplan can help lighten the load. Make the freephone call and begin to build a better you – it may be all it takes.